Business Review Blog
Helpful Insights and Reviews on Businesses

It’s predicted over the next year that more and more companies will look to online survey software tools for their market research and internal analysis instead of outsourcing to full-service firms (read the article from Forrester here). Survey software not only enables companies to bring their market research in-house, but it provides convenience and efficiency.

• Many survey tools automatically collect and analyze results, drastically reducing much of the busy work associated with market research and saving valuable work hours.
• Raw data can often be easily and quickly downloaded in Microsoft Excel or SPSS.
• Significant cost savings over outsourcing and conventional, paper-based surveys.
• Most tools provide real-time access meaning results can be viewed instantly.

Whether you’re traveling for business or with the family over the holidays, here are some of the best airline products.

Noise Cancelling Headphones
Banish loud, obnoxious cabin noise with Bose’s Quiet-Comfort 3 headphones. Well worth the price, they provide symphony-hall sound quality.

Inflatable Pillow
Ok, you may feel silly using this but imagine how you’ll feel after getting a good night’s rest on a long red-eye flight. Simply place it on the tray table, lean forward, and pass out!

Neck Pillow
Or if you prefer to sleep in the sitting position, a must-have is the U-shaped neck pillow that provides maximum comfort for your head and neck while in a seated position.

Solio Charger
An advanced hybrid charger, the Solio Charger combines efficient solar panels with a high-capacity battery to collect and store power and can power nearly all your electronic devices from blackberry to ipod.

Electrical Circuit Test
This one you can’t necessarily buy but as a business traveler, you’ll appreciate nonetheless. Engineered by LiveWire Test Labs, An electrical circuit test can detect and locate faulty wiring that could be potentially hazardous (remember Swissair 111 or TWA 800?).

If you have an online storefront, there are several things that you will want to keep in mind to keep your business booming, loyal customers returning, and new customers discovering what you offer. One of the great things about having an online business is a cheaper cost of operations. You can save a great deal of money that you can focus on increasing your inventory or your advertising. One great way to increase ease of shopping on your site is to have global payment services. This will allow a larger variety of customers from all over the world to access your site and increase your profits.

Also make sure that your check-out system is easy to navigate. Many potential customers are in the process of buying when they run into problems with the “shopping cart” and so on, and they will stop what they are doing and just find another site to buy from.  You definitely don’t want this to happen, obviously.

The next thing you can do is to spend some time and money on advertising and increasing the traffic to your site. Get your name out there and let people know you are here and ready for business.

So, why is internet marketing crucial to a thriving business? Because the internet has replaced the phone book. Hardly anyone looks up businesses the old fashioned way. The internet is the way to go. You want as much traffic as possible to come to your site so that your profits increase and your business thrives. Having a great, put-together website is also very important for increased site traffic. Here are a few tips to have customers coming back for more:

• Make sure your site is easy to navigate. Nothing is more frustrating to those trying to find information and not being able to do it easily and effectively.  They definitely won’t be coming back. They will move onto the next website; one that is easy to get through.
• Provide just the right amount of information. Both too much information and too little information can be harmful to your traffic. If your website is crowded and busy, it turns people away from looking more into your business, your product, or your services.
• Write exactly what your site is about/promoting on the homepage. Most won’t search page after page to find out exactly what your services or products are.

More than 2/3 of Fortune 500 companies utilize 360 degree feedback, which is typically believed to be a highly effective performance evaluation tool. Also known as multi-rater feedback, the tool allows employees to receive feedback from all around them – from supervisors, colleagues, subordinates, and more. Utilizing 360 degree feedback benefits a business in a myriad of ways:

• An organized atmosphere can cultivate individual growth.
• Constructive criticisms are viewed as opportunities to improve.
• Provides self-awareness among employees.
• Provides a framework for assessment of competence in addition to areas that are lacking.
• Encourages open communication within the company.
• An employee’s self-awareness can improve their performance and morale.
• Helps the organization identify goals and areas of improvement.

The businesses that have been around for a while have learned to adapt to the every-changing advancements in technology. Newer, more modern businesses come straight into the folds of technology. You see many companies with Macs–especially now that there is Mac backup–, blackberries, and everything in between.

You are a part of a modern business, keep an eye out for new technologies that will make conducting that much easier, faster, and more efficient. I think we will all be amazed a few years down the road at the abundant and unique technologies that will be widely available.

The ascent of the world wide web in more countries than ever in conjunction with the popularity of online shopping has made the prospect of going global an attractive prospect to many online retailers. Furthermore, a weak U.S. dollar makes such prospects look better and better as the demand for U.S. products overseas continues to increase.

One of the biggest obstacles merchants face when going global is providing flexible, relevant payment methods. It’s no secret that offering a number of alternative payment methods will increase your sales, especially when you are branching out internationally. Payment methods vary widely between countries, so selecting a comprehensive, well-versed online payment processing solution will make the global transition much easier and enable you to accept numerous international payment methods, ensuring you do not miss a sale just because you do not offer a customer’s preferred payment method of choice. And since a thriving business essentially depends on absolute trust between itself and its customers, reliable payment solutions with the highest possible security and safe IT infrastructure is vital.

NextPage will be appearing at three upcoming conferences in the remaining months of 2008. If you are in the area, or can get in the area, go check it out:

• Sept. 17th: in New York, NY at the “Kahn Compliance In Information Management Forum Conference and Workshop”.  This conference will focus on compliancy laws and privacy issues. NextPage will be offering information about compliance software and the effects of unmanaged documents.
• Oct. 20-23rd: Las Vegas, NV at the ARMA’s International 53rd Annual Conference and Expo. Focusing on electronic records and the difficulty of keeping track of all versions of said document and realistic and possible solutions. Information management is important for every business.
• Dec. 8-11th: New York, NY at the IQPC 6th E-Discovery Conference. Digital records can be overwhelming feat. Find more practical solutions for your business.

· Identify your goals – What are you hoping to accomplish with these survey? Improve customer service platforms? Survey audience response for a new product or service? Make sure you know what your goals are before you begin to construct a survey.

· Pick your tools – When it comes to online survey software, you can either host the software or employ a vendor. Using a vendor is highly recommended since it allows you to focus on either things besides the technology side of administering a survey, such as quality of the questions and managing incoming results.

· Write your questions – Take into consideration the wording and order of the questions. Something as simple as the tone of the survey can affect the responses of participants. Also consider whether you want multiple choice or open-ended questions.

· Test your survey – Once the survey questions have been written and revised, test the survey on a small handful of customers to see how well it is received.

· Launch your survey – The next step is to launch your survey; announce it to your target audience and guarantee maximum participation. This can be done by advertising the survey to more people than you need. For example, if you are looking to garner 200 responses, invite 400 customers to ensure you meet that goal.

· Measure your results - Identify results that are similar and indicate numerous customers respond in a particular way. You may also want to look for unforeseen results may open your eyes to issues or concerns you weren’t aware of or had not considered.

The latest in Consumer Reviews brings us to the doorstep of the latest and greatest… Consupo.  Providing an online community for consumers to express their opinions, Consupo’s motto is, “We believe that companies should be held accountable for their business practices - both positive and negative.”  Consupo is designed to be used by consumers of literally everything.  Whether it’s a product, a movie, a company, a restaurant, a politician, or even a school… you name it, you can review it.  By giving “Props” (positive feedback) or “Beef” (negative feedback) your voice can be heard.  Consupo reviews also allow you to post videos or pictures as evidence for your case.

So check it out.  Take a look at what others are saying.